OOPS!

A funny story just ran in the Wall Street Journal about the founder of ForSalebyOwner.com Colby Sambrotto using a real estate agent to sell his condo in New York City. It seems Mr. Sambrotto tried using the techniques he expounds to readers on his web site to sell his own property, but his efforts fell flat. Eventually Sambrotto hired a licensed New York real estate agent to sell his own property, paying the standard 6% commission. The agent, Jesse Buckler, told Mr Sambrotto the apartment was priced too low and wasn’t drawing the right buyers!

In just a few weeks Buckler had the apartment under contract after attracting multiple offers. It closed for $150,000 MORE than the original asking price!

“At first he wouldn’t let me increase the price,” Buckler said. “I told him I know what I am doing – the market is picking up.”

This shows that the myth that FSBO sites claim is not always gospel.

Myth #1 – You will pocket more money selling on your own

In this case and many others, it was clear that a trained and experience real estate agent was able to sell the home for MORE than the asking price, netting the seller more money – and less headaches. Experienced Realtors are involved in the local market every day. We spend tens of thousands of dollars per year on advertising. We have an extensive network of contacts who either are buying or selling a home, or know someone who is. We know how to sell homes – quickly and at a fair price.

Myth #2 – The Internet alone can sell your home

Many have said that, with the introduction of home search on the internet, hiring an agent is no longer a necessity. What happened to the FSBO guru when he attempted to only depend on the internet?

From the WSJ article:
“Looking to move his family to the suburbs, [Mr. Sambrotto] said he carefully staged his apartment for sale himself, and put it on the market. But after using a mix of websites to publicize his apartment, he said he had only ‘middling success’ and switched to a broker because many buyers were so reliant on brokers.”

The Bottom Line?
So don’t believe all the things you read on the FSBO sites. For Sale by Owner can work for some sellers, but it is not a as easy or always as financially sound as the FSBO sites would have you believe. By far the vast majority of homes in the metro OKC real estate marketplace are sold by Realtors like me. There is a reason the real estate industry has been around for centuries: it performs a valuable service. It works.